REAL PEOPLE, REAL ISSUES

24 posts categorized "Web/Tech"

November 16, 2008

Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65 days. For
years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but
addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his
side — on most days, it was fastened to his belt — to provide a
singular conduit to the outside world as the bubble around him grew
tighter and tighter throughout his campaign. “How about that?” Mr. Obama replied to a friend’s congratulatory e-mail message on the night of his victory. But
before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to
sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the
Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official
record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of
subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the
first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful. For
all the perquisites and power afforded the president, the chief
executive of the United States is essentially deprived by law and by
culture of some of the very tools that other chief executives depend on
to survive and to thrive. Mr. Obama, however, seems intent on pulling
the office at least partly into the 21st century on that score; aides
said he hopes to have a laptop computer on his desk in the Oval Office,
making him the first American president to do so. Mr. Obama has
not sent a farewell dispatch from the personal e-mail account he uses —
he has not changed his address in years — but friends say the frequency
of correspondence has diminished. In recent days, though, he has been
seen typing his thoughts on transition matters and other items on his
BlackBerry, bypassing, at least temporarily, the bureaucracy that is
quickly encircling him. A year ago, when many Democratic contributors and other observers were worried about his prospects against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton,
they reached out to him directly. Mr. Obama had changed his cellphone
number, so e-mail remained the most reliable way of communicating
directly with him. “His BlackBerry was constantly crackling with e-mails,” said David Axelrod, the campaign’s chief strategist. “People were generous with their advice — much of it conflicting.” Mr.
Obama is the second president to grapple with the idea of this
self-imposed isolation. Three days before his first inauguration, George W. Bush sent a message to 42 friends and relatives that explained his predicament. SOURCE:NYTIMES

August 29, 2008

Comcast soon will begin cracking down on heavy users of its Internet
service in a move that critics fear could be a step toward restricting
unlimited broadband access to download and upload files while surfing
the Web. The country's largest cable company and second-largest Internet
provider said Thursday that beginning Oct. 1, residential users who
download and/or upload more than 250 GB of data a month will be
notified and asked to curb their use. Customers who exceed the limit a
second time in six months will face termination of their account. The limit clearly defines a policy that Comcast has had in place for
many years. In the past, excessive users faced similar restrictions,
but the limits were never spelled out and actually fluctuated month to
month depending on overall traffic. Comcast would not disclose the
range of the old limits. Comcast officials said the move will help maintain a smooth
experience for the majority of customers, who use far less than 250 GB
a month. The current median monthly data use is 2 to 3 GB, Comcast
said. The company, however, has no immediate plans to release a meter
for customers to track their own usage. "We have some extremely high bandwidth users that consume a
disproportionate amount of data, and that can degrade service for
others," said Charlie Douglas, a spokesman for Comcast. "To maintain a
high quality of service for users we've gone with this." Critics, meanwhile, said they're disappointed with Comcast's willingness to set limits instead of adding capacity. "This wouldn't be necessary if Comcast had chosen to expand its
capacity," said Michael Shames, executive director of the Utility
Consumers' Action Network in San Diego. "They've chosen instead to
degrade service." S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press, a media nonprofit
group, said that while the limit seems high now, it might not be
sufficient in the future as technology evolves and broadband use grows.
He blamed a lack of competition that allows Comcast to profit from
"artificial scarcity."

How big is 250 GB?

To approach the monthly limit Comcast is placing on its Internet users, you would have to do one of the following:

August 02, 2008

The Federal Communications Commission formally voted Friday to uphold the complaint against Comcast,
the nation’s largest cable company, saying that it had illegally
inhibited users of its high-speed Internet service from using popular
file-sharing software. The decision, which imposes no fine, requires
Comcast to end such blocking this year.Kevin J.
Martin, the commission’s chairman, said the order was meant to set a
precedent that Internet providers, and indeed all communications
companies, could not keep customers from using their networks the way
they see fit unless there is a good reason.“We are preserving
the open character of the Internet,” Mr. Martin said in an interview
after the 3-to-2 vote. “We are saying that network operators can’t
block people from getting access to any content and any applications.”The
case also highlights the broader issue of whether new legislation is
needed to force Internet providers to treat all uses of their networks
equally, a concept called network neutrality. Some have urged
legislation to make sure that big Internet companies do not
discriminate against small companies or those that compete with their
video or telephone services.The legal complaint against
Comcast, which is based in Philadelphia, relates to BitTorrent,
software that is commonly used by people downloading movies, television
shows, music and software. Many, but hardly all, of those files are
copyrighted material traded without authorization.Comcast says
that a small percentage of its customers using BitTorrent consume a
large share of its network capacity, degrading the Internet access of
other customers. So it installed equipment that slowed — but did not
completely block — file transfers using BitTorrent.Comcast has
already said that it plans to move to a new way of managing its network
at times of peak use to avoid singling out certain programs.
Nevertheless, the company objected rather strongly to the commission’s
decision.“We believe that our network management choices were
reasonable, wholly consistent with industry practices,” Sena
Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a statement. “We
are considering all our legal options and are disappointed that the
commission rejected our attempts to settle this issue without further
delays.”Analysts said they expected Comcast to appeal the decision.The
company’s blocking received wide publicity last October after The
Associated Press ran tests of Comcast’s network that substantiated some
users’ allegations. Two public advocacy groups, Free Press and Public
Knowledge, then filed a formal complaint with the commission, which
held several hearings into the matter. SOURCE:NYT.COM

July 31, 2008

In one of the most significant legal rulings in the tech industry this year, a Superior Court judge in California has ruled that the practice of charging consumers a fee for ending their cell phone contract early is illegal and violates state law. The preliminary, tentative judgment orders Sprint Nextel to pay customers $18.2 million in reimbursements and, more importantly, orders Sprint to stop trying to collect another $54.7 million from California customers (some 2 million customers total) who have canceled their contracts but refused or failed to pay the termination fee. While an appeal is inevitable, the ruling could have massive fallout throughout the industry. Without the threat of levying early termination fees, the cellular carriers lose the power that's enabled them to lock customers into contracts for multiple years at a time. And while those contracts can be heinously long, they also let the carriers offer cell phone hardware at reduced (subsidized) prices. AT&T's two-year contract is the only reason the iPhone 3G costs $199. If subsidies vanish, what happens to hardware lock-in? Could an era of expensive, but unlocked, hardware be just around the corner? It's highly probable. Of course, the carriers aren't going to take this lying down. Early termination fees are seen as critical to business, so carriers are expected to look for ways to reclassify the fees (such as by calling them "rates," part of the arcane set of laws that covers the telecommunications industry). The industry is also pushing for the federal government to step in and claim oversight over the early termination fee issue, which would invalidate any state ruling. The FCC is generally more tolerant of such fees, though Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed a plan whereby the fees are decreased the closer you are to the end of your contract. The FCC may also buy the argument that, since carriers are nationally based (and consumers can use their phones anywhere in the country), that a single policy should apply across the nation, rather than creating a patchwork of legislation that could lead to confusion and chaos caused by having 50 different policies. Is the early termination fee dead? Not yet, but it's looking a little haggard. LINK: Sprint early termination fees are illegal, judge rules SOURCE:YAHOO.COM

July 29, 2008

(07-28) 18:14 PDT
--
The Federal Communications Commission appears poised to crack down on
Comcast for its practice of slowing down or blocking large file
transfers, which has drawn the ire of consumer groups.FCC Chairman Kevin Martin confirmed in an e-mail that he has the
necessary three votes to punish the kind of selective techniques used
by Comcast to target heavy peer-to-peer file sharing through software
applications such as BitTorrent.The five-person commission is scheduled to vote Friday on an order
barring Internet service providers from interfering with or blocking
customer traffic. Bloomberg News quoted commission sources who said the
FCC would censure but not fine Comcast for its practices, which came to
light in autumn.The fact that that FCC appears eager to police this activity cheered
on network neutrality proponents, who have resisted efforts by the
Internet providers to slow down traffic or charge people for higher use."I think it's a huge victory for consumers because it sets down a
baseline principle that the FCC will act if cable or phone companies
try to interfere with software and content online," said Marvin Ammori,
general counsel for consumer advocate group Free Press, which filed a
complaint against Comcast.Comcast was singled out in an Associated Press story in October for
blocking and slowing traffic on its network by people who were using
peer-to-peer file-sharing applications.The practice is used to share content. As a delivery tool for video,
it has become a major source of bandwidth consumption and a headache
for Internet providers.Comcast initially denied it was managing traffic but later acknowledged employing limiting measures at peak times.The company said in spring that it would move by the end of the year
to a new method that did not target an application such as BitTorrent
but slowed down any extreme use at peak times.Sena Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for Comcast, said companies need to
manage their networks to ensure that all users have a good experience."We've consistently said it's not a problem you can build your way out of," she said."You need to manage traffic or it will take as much space as you
build. You need network management to make sure the network can handle
the traffic in a way that works."Fitzmaurice said she's still waiting for the FCC order to know what
implications it will have for Comcast and other Internet providers.
It's unclear if it will target only Comcast's current strategy, which
will be abandoned by the end of this year, and will allow Comcast's
broader management approach, and if so how will it be implemented. Even
the question of the FCC's authority is at issue. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

July 18, 2008

When first reviewed the iPhone and discussions were about its battery life as being borderline for the business traveler. Whenever I travel with the phone, it always needs a charge by the time my first dinner meeting rolls around. Steve Jobs originally proclaimed that battery life and chip size were both reasons that the first iPhone didn't have 3G support, the question is does the new iPhone offer 3G performance without the battery life penalty? Unfortunately, as Apple doesn't design any of the chips or battery technology that goes into the iPhone, it doesn't really have much control over things like 3G battery life. And thus, the iPhone 3G suffers like any other smartphone when operating on a 3G network. The test below is the same one I ran in the original iPhone review, in fact that iPhone and Blackjack data is taken straight from that review - the new data is obviously the iPhone 3G, operating in 3G mode. The battery life is expressed in minutes and the results are expectedly not very good: At 197 minutes, the iPhone 3G can keep you browsing for a little over 3 hours before completing dying. That's with no additional phone calls or anything else going on in the background, just constant surfing. The problem is that this is a very realistic scenario for many users. If you're out of the house and stuck somewhere without a laptop, you'll want the speed of 3G but the battery life will mean that your surfing experience is almost half as long as it would be on Edge. Granted, you can load pages faster in the same amount of time, but you'd have to load pages around twice as fast on average to equal the same productivity. SOURCE:ANandTech.com

July 09, 2008

One year and 11 days ago, our nation was swept by iPhone Mania. TV news coverage was relentless. Hard-core fans camped out to be the first in line. Bloggers referred to Apple’s new product as the “Jesus phone.”It was a stunning black slab of glass: a cellphone, a brilliant
music and video player and the best pocket Internet terminal the world
had ever seen. The huge, bright, touch-sensitive screen made it
addictive fun to rotate, page through or magnify your photos, videos
and Web pages.Today, the iPhone is in the hands of six million
people. Clumsy touch-screen lookalikes from rival phone makers line the
shelves.And Friday is the iPhone’s second coming.This time, though, when the iPhone 3G goes on sale in AT&T
and Apple stores, iPhone Mania will be considerably more muted. That’s
partly because the mystery is gone, partly because the AT&T service
costs more and partly because there aren’t many new features in what
Apple is calling the iPhone 3G.The new name hints at the
biggest change: this iPhone can bring you the Internet much faster. It
can exploit AT&T’s third-generation (3G) cellular network, which
brings you Web pages in less than half the time as the old iPhone.As a handy bonus, 3G means that you can talk on the iPhone and surf the Internet simultaneously, which you couldn’t do before.There
is, however, a catch: you don’t get that speed or those features unless
you’re in one of AT&T’s 3G network areas — and there aren’t many of
them. The 3G coverage map at wireless.att.com/coverageviewer(zoom in and turn on “View 3G/Mobile Broadband Coverage” below the map)
reveals that in 16 states, only three cities or fewer are covered; 10
states have no coverage at all. (Tip: Whenever you’re outside of a 3G
area, turning off the iPhone’s 3G feature doubles the battery’s talk
time, to 10 hours from 5.) SOURCE:NYT.COM

July 08, 2008

According to Consumerist,
an Apple store insider has revealed new prodedures for procuring a
coveted second generation iPhone, which is due to go on sale July 11th.
Gone are the days you could walk into an Apple store, slap down some
cash or your credit card, and walk home with a shiny new phone.Their source reveals these new limitations and potential barriers:

Those who wish to buy a 3G iPhone for use with corporate of
business plans must go to AT&T to purchase their phones. Only
phones for personal use can be purchased at Apple.

Customers must present a valid US government ID to purchase the
phone, as well as provide a store employee with your Social Security
number for credit check purposes.

You will be required to pay the activation fee and pick a plan at
the time of purchase. Phones will be activated on the spot at the store.

To be fair, this is different from the iPhone buying process we've
gotten used to, but it's not all that different from signing up for a
new contract with a new phone anywhere else. Although I hope there is
an option for those who want to buy the phone without activating on the
spot or extending their contracts. One should be able to go in and
offer to pay full price for the phone without having to go through the
hassles mentioned above. SOURCE: CLEVELAND LEADER

July 04, 2008

(07-03) 18:06 PDT
--
In a ruling that could have serious privacy implications, a federal
judge has ruled that popular Internet video site YouTube must hand over
details about what people watch online.The decision filed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton
in New York is part of a $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit that
Viacom Inc., the entertainment group that owns Comedy Central, VH1 and
Nickelodeon, among others, filed last year against Google, which owns
YouTube.The suit says YouTube hasn't done enough to remove copyrighted material from its site and is making money off it.Viacom demanded to review all of YouTube's logging information to
prove that copyrighted clips are more popular than amateur videos on
the site. The logging data includes how often users watch videos, how
much time they spend doing it, their username and their Internet
Protocol addresses, the unique identification assigned to individual
computers and devices.The case, and this ruling, could have broad implications for
Internet content and user behavior. The sharing of copyrighted
materials online, both in music and video, has become commonplace in
recent years, creating tension between copyright holders who believe
they should control their material and Internet users who wish to share
and manipulate the content.Google requested Thursday that the judge reconsider the ruling."We see no reason why Viacom and the other plaintiffs seek or
require such information," Google said in a letter filed with the
court. "Given plaintiffs' stated reason for seeking information from
the logging database ... potentially personal identifiable information
should be irrelevant."Google counsel Catherine Lacavera expanded on that point in an
e-mailed statement: "We are disappointed the court granted Viacom's
overreaching demand for viewing history. We will ask Viacom to respect
users' privacy and allow us to anonymize the logs before producing them
under the court's order."Viacom officials said the company has not asked for personally
identifiable information of any user and that all the data would be
handled by its advisers confidentially and used only to prove its case
against Google.SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

July 03, 2008

For all its cool new
features, Apple's iPhone has always rankled some of its most diehard
fans because it has been tethered to a two-year service contract with
AT&T. Until now.AT&T said Tuesday that the next generation of Apple's
touch-screen smart phone will go on sale next week with an option to
forgo the two-year contract. But those buyers will have to pay an extra
$400 for the favor.IPhone buyers who agree to the two-year contract with AT&T - the
only approved telephone and Internet service provider in the United
States - will get an 8-GB iPhone for $199 or a 16-GB version for $299.
Without the contract and its stiff termination fees, the phones will be
priced at $599 and $699.The new iPhones will be sold only in AT&T and Apple stores
beginning July 11; none will be sold online. Phones without the
two-year contract will be available sometime "in the future," AT&T
said, and they'll still be locked into the AT&T network when they
are activated.The option of activating the iPhone from home won't be available
with the new models, and AT&T is advising customers to arrive at
stores ready for a credit check, with a photo ID and Social Security
number. The company posted a checklist online (see links.sfgate.com/ZDZM) to help prepare customers.The prices will apply for new customers, original iPhone customers
and existing AT&T customers who qualify for an upgrade discount. An
upgrade fee of $18 will be charged to existing customers, while new
customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.Upgrade discounts for existing customers will be determined by
payment history and the amount of time left on the AT&T contract.
Existing customers who don't qualify for the upgrade discount will have
to pay $399 or $499 for the 8-GB and 16-GB models, respectively.The cheapest calling plan costs $69.99 a month for 450 anytime
minutes and 5,000 night and weekend minutes. That includes unlimited
Web browsing and e-mail. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

July 01, 2008

Looks like we'll have to get up bright and early to buy the new iPhone. Also,
AT&T says a "no-commitment" iPhone is "coming soon."First things first: The new iPhone 3G will go on sale at 8 a.m. next Friday
at AT&T retail stores and Apple stores. So if you're planning on lining up,
you'd better be ready well before sunrise. Also, AT&T has finally
clarified pricing for current AT&T subscribers who want the iPhone 3G. In a nutshell, if you're "upgrade eligible" (log into your AT&T account to see if you are), you'll
be able to buy the new iPhone for the discounted price of $199 for the 8GB
version or $299 for the 16GB model. (AT&T is somewhat vague about the
eligibility criteria, although your credit history and the time remaining on
your contract are factors.) You'll also have to pay an $18 "upgrade
fee."If you're not eligible for the discount, you'll have to fork over extra for
an "early upgrade"-$399 for the 8GB iPhone 3G or $499 for the 16GB
model. Ouch.AT&T also says that a "no-commitment" (read: no contract) iPhone
3G will be available soon, at $599 for the 8GB version and or $699 for the 16GB
handset. Pricey, but hey-no two-year contract. Unfortunately, AT&T won't offer the new iPhone on a prepaid basis, at
least not at launch. Some other items: You will have to get your new iPhone activated at the
store, and that means a credit check. So bring a photo ID and your Social Security
number (especially if you're not yet an AT&T customer). If you want to cut
down on the wait, you can go to an AT&T store now and take care of the
credit check early. There have been some rumors that current iPhone users could simply register
the IMEI number of their new iPhone with AT&T clerks-meaning they could
finish activating their phones at home. It's a nice idea, but so far, there's
no indication from AT&T that such a plan exists. As for the newly detailed rate plans, there aren't any surprises. Each plan
comes bundled with unlimited
data; $70 a month gets you 450 minutes and 5,000 night/weekend minutes,
while a 900-minute plan with unlimited nights/weekends goes for $90. A 1,350-minute
plan will cost $110 per month. Family plans are available, and business data
plans will cost $45 a month (versus $30 per month for standard data in the
bundled plans). Text
messages are extra, too. Individuals pay $5 for 200 texts per month, $15
for 1,500 a month, or $20 for unlimited texting. For family plans, you'll pay
$30 a month for unlimited messaging.AT&T also has a checklist of required documentation, fees, and rate
plans. Download
the PDF here. SOURCE:YAHOO.COM

June 30, 2008

Hip Hop was under attack in cyberspace late
last week by racists who hacked into the sites of llHipHop.com and
SOHH.com and swapped out the usual rap-related articles with fake
headlines and racial slurs. According to MTV.com, the hackers also swiped personal information about workers at SOHH.com.Both Web sites were first
infiltrated early last week through its forum pages, and both were
forced to shut down temporarily on Friday. Taking credit for the crime
is a party identifying itself as "Anonymous." "AllHipHop and SOHH, two
pioneering Web sites that have been in the industry for over 10 years,
are appalled by the unprovoked racist attacks of these cyber
terrorists," said AllHipHop co-founders Chuck Creekmur and Greg
Watkings in a statement released late Friday. "With all the social
strides that we have seen for several years, it is sad to see that this
sort of blatant, hateful racism still exists in 2008 — a time of
tremendous possibility. Together, AllHipHop and SOHH are committed to
relentlessly pursuing these attackers, using every resource available,
to ensure the capture of these criminals and prevention of repeat
offenses." SOURCE:EURWEB.COM

June 24, 2008

Time Warner Cable and Comcast are launching
tests this week of new management controls for bandwidth consumption --
alternatives to the approach of throttling packets outright, though
they may not prove to be any more popular. Both major cable
ISPs are limiting their tests for now to just a few places in the US.
Yesterday, it was learned that TWC plans to try out a new metered
billing scheme that will charge users on the basis of individual
bandwidth consumption. Although the metered approach could curb usage among
some subscribers, the cable firm might also stand to gain some extra
revenues among those willing to pay the price. Elsewhere,
Comcast has announced plans to test a method of controlling traffic
problems that slows file transfer speeds for individual heavy users
during peak times of Internet use. Comcast's tests are slated to start
on Friday in Chambersbug, Pennsylvania and Warrenton, Virginia. Meanwhile, Comcast is still officially under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission on charges that it has been blocking P2P file transfers. During FCC hearings, Comcast has denied blocking any Web site, application, or protocol. Beginning Thursday, TWC subscribers in Beaumont,
Texas, will be given monthly "allowances" for the amount of data they
upload and download. Those who exceed the limit will be required to pay
$1 per gigabyte. SOURCE: BetaNEWS.COM

June 17, 2008

After several beta releases and a planned bid for the Guinness Book of World Records, Firefox 3.0 has arrived.As of 1pm EST Tuesday, users can download the latest version of the open-source browser, which includes an improved book marking system and drop-down search returns in the URL bar, among other features.Aesthetically, the browser is not drastically different from its
predecessor. The forward and back buttons have been altered, while the
browser buttons and window frames have also been redesigned to conform
to the look of a user's operating system, but not much else has changed. On the features front, the drop-down URL bar – dubbed the Awesome
Bar – offers suggestions of possible Web sites as you type your search
query.Version three offers a three-tier book marking system: bookmark
stars allow for one-click favorites; bookmark tags all you to add
details to your favorites; and bookmark folders are saved searches that
update when you add new items matching that search to your bookmarks,
according to Mozilla.Download manager has also been revamped and now includes the ability
to pause and resume downloads, search through downloaded files, obtain
more detailed file information, and revisit the original download page.Firefox 3.0 also boasts improved color profiles, font and text
rendering, and zooming capabilities, as well as malware and phishing
protection, Mozilla said.Developers will also be able to create WebSOURCE:PCMAG.COM

May 14, 2008

LEMONADE and computer keyboards do not mix. I learned that the hard way
a few weeks ago, when my stepdaughter accidentally spilled some onto
her iBook laptop. Over the phone, I told her how to remove the keyboard and blot up the mess. But even after the lemonade dried, the iBook didn’t work properly.
The spill had precipitated a virtual stroke: the laptop could no longer
connect to the outside Internet world, its screen was dim, and when
Stacey tried to type, evryling cme out lke tis. A local repair shop said a new keyboard would cost $200 installed, and it would take two weeks. Googling
“iBook keyboard repair,” I found a Web site selling parts to help
people fix their own computers. The next morning, I received a new
keyboard, and 10 minutes later, I had it installed — at half the cost
and with virtually no downtime. While personal computers rival
the brain’s neural complexity, you do not need to be a neurosurgeon to
fix one. Many parts can be easily replaced at home for a fraction of
what a professional would charge. According to Paul Reynolds, the
electronics editor for Consumer Reports, consumers should not bother
fixing a PC when the cost equals about half the price of a new machine.
And that number is easy to reach. Having a shop replace a laptop’s
L.C.D. screen, for example, can easily run up to $600. Doing it
yourself might cost $200, and a few hours of research and labor. From
adding memory to replacing a motherboard, repair tasks often require
little more than patience, organization and a couple of small
screwdrivers. There is a downside to doing it yourself. If you guess
wrong and replace a part that is not causing the problem, you will have
wasted time and perhaps money. But many hardware problems are fairly
easy to diagnose. SOURCE: NYTIMES

February 25, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Conflicting reports emerged out of
Pakistan on Tuesday over the duration of a Pakistani government block
on the video-sharing Web site YouTube for showing a "highly blasphemous
Dutch" video.The video, which the Pakistani Telecommunications Authority
described as "highly provocative" and "anti-Quranic," featured Dutch
politician Geert Wilders and had "the potential to cause more unrest
and possible loss of life and property across the country," PTA said in
a statement on its Web site."PTA believes that the said footage
absolutely stands against the values of religious tolerance and
peaceful co-existence arousing deep anguish and distress across the
Muslim world."Wilders, a far-right Dutch lawmaker, announced
last month that he would release an anti-Islam film. Both the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have expressed concern that
the film would spark global protests and riots.The Pakistan government is asking YouTube to remove the "objectionable content," said Nabiha Mehmood, a spokeswoman for the PTA.She said the government would reinstate access to the video-sharing
site if YouTube complied with the request. But YouTube, in a statement,
only referred to access problems for about two hours on Sunday.YouTube's statement did not address the Pakistani government
blocking access to its site. It said that an issue related to its site
in Pakistan affected access to YouTube for users around the globe for
about two hours on Sunday."Traffic to YouTube was routed
according to erroneous Internet protocols, and many users around the
world could not access our site," the statement said.YouTube
added: "We have determined that the source of these events was a
network in Pakistan. We are investigating and working with others in
the Internet community to prevent this from happening again."The government said it decided to block the video after senior
representatives from several ministries of the Pakistani government
met, according to a statement on the PTA Web site. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

February 18, 2008

Until now. The growing popularity of
video on the Net has driven a traffic increase that's putting strains
on service providers, particularly cable companies. To deal with it, they have had to change the way they convey Internet
data. And they've done this in secret, raising concerns -- by Web
companies, consumer groups and the chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission -- that the nature of the Internet is being
altered in ways that are difficult to divine.But as traffic grows, there are signs that these subtle and secret
controls are insufficient and will give way to more overt measures. For
instance, we could find ourselves paying not just for the speed of our
connection, but for how much we download. Already, some ISPs are
hindering file-sharing traffic, and AT&T Inc. is talking about
blocking pirated content.The issue is coming to a head this year, as the FCC is investigating
complaints from consumer groups and legal scholars that Comcast Corp.,
the country's largest cable ISP, secretly hampered file sharing by its
subscribers. File sharing, which allows Internet users to download
movies, music and software among each other with software like
BitTorrent and KaZaa, has been a haven for piracy, though legal uses
are proliferating as well.By interfering with traffic, the groups said,
Comcast is determining what will and won't work, violating the
Internet's unwritten tradition of "net neutrality" -- the principle
that traffic be treated equally.The FCC has adopted a broad policy
that Internet service providers can't block specific applications. But
its interpretation of that statement is not clear, because it hasn't
had to rule on a similar case. Crucially, the policy makes an exemption
for "reasonable traffic management," which Comcast says its practices
fall under.The FCC case will be closely watched by ISPs, because it appears that
most of them use some kind of traffic management -- slowing down less
time-sensitive traffic, like file sharing -- to keep Web surfing
snappy. Whereas earlier doom scenarios for the Internet mostly
concerned the "highways" that move traffic around the country, the
chokepoints that are appearing are actually close to our homes. It's
your neighbors that are the problem."The increasing use of bandwidth by a minority is an increasingly
important issue for all ISPs," said Time Warner Cable Inc. spokesman
Alex Dudley.Time Warner Cable reserves the right to limit the bandwidth available
to applications like file sharing and manage traffic in other ways, but
it won't say what it does for fear competitors could attack that in
their marketing.Internet service providers and consumer advocates agree that some form
of network management, also called "traffic shaping," can be good for
everybody. Not all Internet traffic has the same level of urgency. It
makes sense for the service providers to give priority to a voice call,
which needs a steady stream of quickly delivered data, over a movie
download.This is unusual territory
for telecommunications providers -- in the old telephone network, some
phone calls aren't generally prioritized over others. Prioritization
makes the Internet more like the postal system, where you pay for
delivery speed and quality of service.The goal for ISPs is to ensure that "some bandwidth hog can't knock
your mom off, who's just trying to get her e-mail," said Rob Malan,
founder of Arbor Networks, a Lexington, Mass., a company that supplies
the gear ISPs use to identify and prioritize traffic. The company is
quick to point out that its products don't work in the way that's drawn
FCC scrutiny to Comcast.But the heavy veil of secrecy ISPs lay over their practices make it very hard to evaluate what they are doing.Arbor Networks said it has 160 customers worldwide for traffic
prioritization. It has been able to reveal the names of some overseas
clients, but no U.S. customer is willing to be identified.When users complained to Comcast about file-sharing not working, the
company would not acknowledge the problem. Only after an Associated
Press investigation brought attention to the issue in October did
Comcast disclose it was temporarily blocking some file-sharing
attempts. It updated its online Terms of Service on Jan. 25., without
telling customers, to include a statement about how it may limit
file-sharing. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

One way of looking at it is this: Internet service providers have been
serving us an all-you-can-eat buffet for years. That has worked great
because they've had more food than they knew what to do with, and we've
enjoyed the simplicity of a flat price and our pick of the dishes.But
every year our appetites have been growing. Some of us have turned
into real gluttons, taking advantage of the pricing to eat 10 times as
much as the majority of customers. The food is running out, and diners
are starting to get in each other's way at the table.Now, Internet
service providers are starting to limit the availability
of dishes that are popular with the big eaters (controlling traffic).
They're also considering telling us to stick to two helpings per person
(limiting monthly downloads). And they might end up doing both.The
consumer ISPs at the forefront of these trends are cable providers.
Comcast Corp. has become the poster case for traffic control by
hampering some file sharing, and Time Warner Cable Inc. is testing
monthly bandwidth caps.This is hardly an accident, because congestion
is a greater threat to cable companies.In the basic configuration, each
cable serves about 500 households,
which share about 40 megabits per second of download capacity. If each
household gets Internet service with a maximum download speed of 10
mbps, that means four of them downloading at full speed can saturate
the connection."Fundamentally, the cable companies have come at this
from kind of a
disadvantage," said Rob Malan, chief technology officer of Arbor
Networks, which provides traffic-management equipment. "One greedy
person on that network knocks the whole neighborhood off line."Cable
companies can employ various tricks to increase capacity. For
instance, they can devote additional channels to data, or they can
"split the node" to reduce the number of households on each cable. A
new modem technology called Docsis 3.0, which is starting to roll out
this year, can increase download capacity on a cable to 160 mbps.Of
course, these solutions cost money. Stan Schatt, an analyst at ABI
Research, estimates that cable providers need to spend $24 billion
through 2012 to upgrade their networks.Phone companies like AT&T
Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.,
which operate digital subscriber lines, aren't immune to congestion.
But since phone lines aren't shared, bottlenecks for DSL service are
deeper in the system, on routers and fiber-optic links that are easier
to upgrade.It's nothing new that cable and phone companies have sold
more bandwidth than they can provide to
everyone at the same time. The practice of "oversubscription" is as old
as telecommunications, and it's the only way to build a network
consumers can afford. The phone network, after all, has never been able
to handle everyone trying to call at once.

Meanwhile, Internet
use keeps climbing, with video being the big driver in recent years.
Google Inc.'s YouTube, which started in 2005, already accounts for
about 10 percent of Internet traffic, according to Ellacoya Networks
(which is being acquired by Arbor Networks).SOURCE OF THIS STORY

February 05, 2008

Because many people around the world are like Sellers, the U.S. Postal
Service and its counterparts in other countries are tapping technology
to cut costs and expand into electronic services including services
designed to attract more "junk" mail. In the United States, first-class mail volume has dropped 7 percent
since 2001 an average of 1.3 billion fewer letters, postcards and bills
each year. A 15 percent boost in bulk advertising and other discounted
mailings has so far offset only some of the loss in revenue. Many postal agencies are having to serve more households because their
nations' populations are growing but are getting less mail to deliver
to each, said Dean Pope, general manager of business development at
Canada Post. "In order to sustain business in that formula, you have to find new
services and products and find new revenue growth opportunities," he
said. One of those new services is Canada Post's Borderfree program, which
allows Canadians to buy items from U.S. e-commerce partners, pay in
Canadian currency and know all taxes and fees ahead of time. Borderfree
takes packages from U.S. hubs through Canadian customs and delivers
them in Canada. In France, La Poste will print e-mails customers send in and deliver
them to physical mailboxes with registered notes and time stamps. Tunisia's postal service offers a pre-charged payment service for paying utility bills and buying things online. In Italy, a new digital certification service at Poste Italiane
archives loan documents for banks so that years after a transaction a
party can retrieve the original document with an electronic postmark as
proof of its authenticity. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

January 25, 2008

There's no Yahoo! for Yahoo! these days. The online giant, which has already survived one of the greatest
melt-downs in high tech history and come roaring back, now once again
appears to be looking down into the abyss. The company's stock is plummeting -- down nearly 30 percent since the
summer, when the company booted long-time CEO Terry Semel. The company
is bleeding market share to arch-rival Google -- down 6 percent from a
year ago (everyone in the search field is losing to Google, but none as
fast as Yahoo). And when the company announces its fourth quarter
financials Tuesday, they are expected to be bleak indeed, and it is
widely assumed that they will be accompanied by lay-offs -- several
hundred according to some sources, up 2,500 according to stock analyst
Henry Blodget. Meanwhile, Wired.com is predicting that the co-founder and
current interim CEO Jerry Yang will likely soon get shoved out of the
execs chair to be replaced by long-time CFO and current president Susan
Decker. In other words, Yahoo is looking like a company slowing
spinning down into disaster. Needless to say, this is not a good time to be in trouble. Healthy
companies get dragged kicking and screaming into recessions, they have
war chests set aside full of money to fund R&D during the slow
times, they manage their lay-offs instead of being managed by them, and
they position themselves to come powering out of the downturn ahead of
their competitors gobbling up market share as they go. Right now, if Yahoo has anything going for it, it is that some
of its current crisis is being camouflaged by the general economic
slide, especially in advertising. Moreover, as I suggested recently,
Google, whose own stock is also slipping from its nosebleed heights, is
heading for its own fall -- driven not by a failure of the business
model, but a growing internal character crisis -- and Google's decline
may perversely buoy Yahoo's fortunes. SOURCE OF THIS STORY

September 2012

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